Conventional compact water jets typically used a fixed stationary orifice to produce a spray pattern that can produce a linear focused “spot spray or a fan-type spray pattern such as are used in typical pressure washer wands. This style of nozzle requires an operator to manually manipulate and move a spray wand back and forth as desired to cover and treat a desired area. With advances in automation, these types of static spray nozzles are often installed on platforms having external drive mechanisms which serve to move the nozzles in pre-determined patterns such as, for example, circular, or back and forth linear sweep patterns. Other nozzles have been developed to move the nozzle element internally in various patterns. One representative example is the compact rotary nozzle disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 8,500,042 B2, which creates a conical spray pattern derived from an internal vortex and spinning rotating nozzle assembly. These nozzles and their various spray patterns are commonly found in automated car washes, for example.
While these water jet designs continue to be used successfully, it would be advantageous to improve upon their design. For example, it would be desirable to provide a water jet having a strong water jet spray pattern that can cover a wider area than a single, static water jet stream without requiring external mechanisms to provide oscillatory, reciprocation, or sweeping action.